US energy shares gain as Houthi tanker attacks push Brent to $100

July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. energy shares rose in premarket trading on Thursday as Brent crude briefly touched $100 a barrel, extending a ‌five-day rally after attacks on two Saudi oil tankers intensified ‌Middle East tensions and heightened concerns over global oil supply disruptions.

Houthi forces in Yemen have ​widened the conflict by targeting vessels carrying Saudi oil in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after declaring a naval blockade on Saudi shipments.

The attacks have heightened fears that disruptions to Middle East oil exports could spread beyond the Strait ‌of Hormuz, tightening global ⁠crude supplies and supporting higher energy prices.

• Brent crude futures rose as much as 6.3% to $100 ⁠per barrel by 1302 GMT for the first time since May 26. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 5.2% at $91.30 per barrel.

• "We continue to ​expect the ​production recovery process in the Middle ​East to be slower than ‌the market anticipates, as it requires an increase in inbound vessels," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

• "With the conflict resuming, those flows remain depressed. This should keep the oil market tight and prices supported."

• Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively. Diamondback Energy , Devon Energy, ConocoPhillips ‌and Occidental Petroleum were up between 2% ​and 2.5%.

• Refiners Valero Energy , Marathon Petroleum ​and Phillips 66 also gained ​between 2.1% and 2.6%.

• Before tensions flared again after ‌July 8, analysts had cut their ​2026 oil price ​forecasts for the first time since the Iran war began, a Reuters poll showed in June.

• Energy stocks have swung with developments ​in the conflict, surging ‌on supply disruption fears before pulling back after the United States ​and Iran reached a temporary peace agreement.

(Reporting by Sumit Saha ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)